Pillar Twenty Two

Artwork by A. Manivelu

Top

  • NORTH FACE:
    Sandalwood

    Sandalwood or chandana is the Asian evergreen tree, Santalum album. Most of the world’s sandalwood is grown in South India, in the state of Karnataka. Its sweetly fragrant heartwood is ground into the fine, tan-colored paste distributed as prasada in Saivite temples and used for sacred marks on the forehead, tilaka.

  • EAST FACE:
    Betel Leaf

    The betel leaf, from the vine Piper betel, is used as an auspicious offering in homes and temples, and eaten as a digestive aid.

  • SOUTH FACE:
    Six-Pointed Star

    Shadkonam is the “six-pointed star,” formed by two interlocking triangles, the upper one representing Siva’s transcendent Being, and the lower one Siva’s manifest energy, Shakti. The shadkona is part of Lord Karttikeya’s yantra. A similar emblem in Judaism is of independent origin and signification. The cactus garden near Iraivan Temple is designed in the shape of a shadkonam.

  • WEST FACE:
    Peacook

    The peacock is the vahana, or mount, of Siva’s son, Lord Murugan, symbolizing effulgent beauty and religion in full glory. The peacock can control powerful snakes, such as the cobra, symbolizing the soulful domination of the instinctive elements—or control of the kundalini, which is yoga.

1 of 4

Middle

  • NORTH FACE:
    Flute and Cymbals

    Flute and cymbals, traditional musical instruments from ancient times still used today.

  • EAST FACE:
    Tambura

    The tambura is a long-necked, four-stringed, fretless lute that provides a drone accompaniment for a singer or instrumentalist.

  • SOUTH FACE:
    Vina

    The vina is a sophisticated stringed musical instrument widely played in India.

  • WEST FACE:
    Mridangam

    Mridangam is a two-sided drum common in South India.

1 of 4

Bottom

  • NORTH FACE:
    Saiva Sannyasin

    Here is a Saiva sannyasin, a renouncer who has taken sannyasa diksha, which makes him a Hindu monk, swami, and one of a world brotherhood (or holy order) of sannyasins. Some are wanderers and others live in monasteries. He carries a bamboo danda and a kamandalu, a copper water pot.

  • EAST FACE:
    Siva Nataraja

    Siva Nataraja, King of Dance, is the Cosmic Dancer. Perhaps Hinduism’s richest and most eloquent symbol, Nataraja represents Siva, the Primal Soul, Parameshvara, as the power, energy and life of all that exists.

1 of 2